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Promising Practices

The Promising Practices database informs professionals and community members about documented approaches to improving community health and quality of life.

The ultimate goal is to support the systematic adoption, implementation, and evaluation of successful programs, practices, and policy changes. The database provides carefully reviewed, documented, and ranked practices that range from good ideas to evidence-based practices.
Learn more about the ranking methodology.

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Door-to-Door Van Service for Outpatient Services (Aliquippa, PA)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Health Care Access & Quality, Older Adults

Goal: To increase attendance rates and decrease transportation-related barriers to outpatient PT clinic patients.

Impact: When patients were offered a van service, attendance rates increased at the physical therapy clinic.

Drinking Water Nitrification Surveillance Program (Lee County, FL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health

Goal: The goal of this program is to detect nitrification in drinking water in order to protect infants under six months old from methemoglobinemia and prevent other consequential bacteriological problems.

Drive-Through Flu Clinic (Grand Forks, ND)

Filed under Effective Practice, Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases

Goal: The goal of the Greater Grand Forks Immunization Coalition is to have all residents protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.The Drive-Through Flu Clinic was designed to address barriers to vaccination in the community for residents six months of age and older.

Dump Your Plump (Johnson)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Physical Activity, Adults, Rural

Goal: The goal of Dump Your Plump is to foster healthy eating and exercise habits through team-based competition.

DuPage Narcan Program (DuPage County, IL)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Alcohol & Drug Use, Urban

Goal: The goal of the program is to provide police departments, schools and others with Naloxone and proper training to save lives from heroin overdose and to provide individuals with a chance to recover.

Impact: In the first six months of the second year, 26 saves were recorded.

Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Exception to Policy (Iowa)

Filed under Good Idea, Health / Oral Health, Children

Goal: The goal of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Exception to Policy program is to increase the amount of Medicaid-enrolled children who receive oral screenings and fluoride varnish applications.

Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) (San Francisco Bay Area, CA)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Families, Urban

Goal: The goal of Earn It! Keep It! Save It! is to help low-income families become financially stable.

Earn-A-Bike Boulder, Colorado (Boulder, CO)

Filed under Good Idea, Community / Transportation, Children, Adults, Urban

Goal: The mission of Earn-A-Bike is to educate and advocate the safe use of refurbished bicycles as affordable transportation.

Edible Trees

Filed under Good Idea, Environmental Health / Built Environment, Adults

Goal: The Edible Trees Program seeks to increase local access to fruiting trees and provide equitable access to healthy foods.

Impact: The Edible Trees Program provides communities access to fruit and nut trees. The program has funded 19 projects resulting in 1,320 trees & shrubs planted.

Educating and Delivering Financial Services to Low-Income, Underserved Residents and Businesses (Cuyahoga County, OH)

Filed under Good Idea, Economy / Investment & Personal Finance, Families

Goal: The goal is to offer members of poor and underserved communities ownership in an established financial cooperative. By purchasing shares in the Faith Community United Credit Union (FCUCU), individuals gain access to services and learn the difference between using what belongs to someone else and owning their own institution.

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.

A Good Idea meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program funding source, program implementation steps and outcomes.
  2. The program evaluation is limited to descriptive measure(s) of success/accomplishment (i.e., program participation rates, number of services/education sessions/radio messages provided). Note: oftentimes, the program has been newly implemented and a program evaluation has not yet been conducted. Programs that have not yet been evaluated, but which show promise in improving health or quality of life, are classified as Good Ideas until an evaluation is conducted.

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.